Wait With Me
by TLY
Summary: "Don't you dare lecture me about Brittany," snarled Santana. "You don't know anything about us – about me. I am not the villain. Not this time." Spoilers/references up to "Original Song". Two-shot.
1. Part I

Wait With Me

_Disclaimer: I do not own _Glee_ or any of its characters._

_Author's Note: I changed the title from "Are You Happy?" because it makes no sense with __this_ two-shot. I apologise if Brittany and Santana are out of character and for any spelling mistakes there may be.

* * *

_Part I_

* * *

"She is _trying_ to get us _killed_," Mercedes stated rather dramatically in Quinn's opinion but the others nodded and murmured in agreement. "And this way, she won't get any of our blood on her hands. _Somebody_ needs to talk to her." She directed the last part at Brittany with a pointed look.

The relationship between Santana and the rest of the glee club had been steadily improving over the past few weeks but her latest antics were rapidly undoing all that progress.

"I don't understand why we have to suffer the consequences of _her_ actions," grumbled Sam, running a hand through his sticky hair which was now partly tinted in purple. He didn't get a chance to wash off the grape slushie he had received just minutes ago because Rachel had immediately called an emergency meeting, grabbing as many members of the glee club as she could find on her way to the choir room.

It was quickly becoming a dire situation. Brittany, Quinn and Finn were the only ones who had not been slushied in this latest war with Karofsky but now that Mike and Sam were on the list of victims, it was clear no one was safe. They were now looking to Brittany to be their saviour but so far she had remained loyal to her best friend and stayed silent on the matter. This didn't really come as a surprise to anyone considering Rachel had had to practically drag her into the room. Brittany had then ignored the empty chair next to Artie and seated herself away from the group with Quinn acting as a buffer for her.

Leaning against the back legs of his chair with ease, Puck glanced over his shoulder at Sam and casually remarked, "This could be Guppy Face's fault." He shrugged at the offended look on Sam's face (which seemed to be more about the nickname than the accusation) and pointed out, "This all started after you dumped her at Regionals."

"I did _not_ cause this," Sam protested, crossing his arms against his chest defensively. "When I broke up with her, she recited a whole new list of insults about my mouth – I'm pretty sure that was the second verse to 'Trouty Mouth' – and told me I was never anything more than her second choice. I don't even think she liked me that much."

While Sam was arguing his case, Mercedes switched her attention onto Brittany who had not once looked up from her hands, which were sitting clasped in her lap, since the "meeting" had begun. Mercedes wasn't blind. She had seen the sad longing looks between Brittany and Santana during the duets competition and realised back then just how much they _needed_ each other. It seemed like Santana had finally figured this out for herself when they performed 'Landslide' with Ms Holliday and the look of pride on Brittany's face spoke volumes about her own feelings. Mercedes, honest to God, adored Rachel but she really wished the diva could learn to filter during pivotal moments.

_"I was never anything more than her second choice."_ At these words, Brittany felt her heart suddenly speed up, beating harder and faster against her chest as butterflies fluttered in her stomach, signifying hope. Her happiness was quickly deflated though when Artie chimed in with his opinions about her best friend.

"Does Santana really need a reason to wreak havoc on this school and the glee club? She's always been a bitch and I don't think she's ever going to change."

Quinn may not be on speaking terms with Santana – that was _the_ biggest understatement in the history of Lima – but she cared a great deal about Brittany so when her friend's bright blue eyes instantly filled with hurt, she shot Artie the iciest glare she could.

"Don't call her that." Brittany's voice was quiet and her gaze was fixated on the ground. The glee club turned to her in surprise, having not expected to hear her speak but at the same time, waiting for her to continue. She felt Quinn squeeze her hand in reassurance and when she looked up, there was an encouraging smile on her face. Taking a shaky breath, Brittany stood up and repeated herself with more conviction. "Don't talk about her like that. Santana is smart, caring, kind-hearted, patient, talented, beautiful... She's all of those things and more. If you can't see that then it's _your loss_." The stunned silence made Brittany nervous and her confidence started to waver but she knew she had to keep going – for herself and for Santana, especially. "I love her." There was an apology in her eyes as they locked with Artie's. She had honestly never meant to hurt him. "I'm in love with Santana."

* * *

The sound of her phone vibrating was amplified in the empty hallway. She pulled it out of her jeans pocket and with a heavy heart, she reluctantly pressed 'ignore' on the keypad. Their win at Regionals had been a week ago and since then, Brittany had left her over fifteen missed calls, ten voicemails and twenty text messages every day. Santana never answered. Instead, she locked herself in her room and lay on her bed, reading every word that Brittany wrote, listening to every apology she spoke.

Resting the back of her head against her locker, Santana clenched her eyes firmly shut and willed her tears to go away. The smug satisfaction she had felt this morning after sending a slushie in Karofsky's face (and hearing that Sam had been slushied in retaliation) had only briefly numbed the pain from her broken heart. Her phone _buzz_ed again and she frowned at the name on the screen: Quinn. Karofsky had probably slushied her and now she was calling to yell at Santana which only made it that much easier to ignore her.

So far, there were already several missed calls and texts from Brittany today along with one voicemail. After a quick scan of the hallway to make sure that she was indeed alone, Santana hesitantly brought the phone to her ear.

Brittany's sniffles threatened to crumble the walls that she had been slowly rebuilding around her heart. _"I miss you, Santana. I miss your pinkie and your sweet lady kisses and our cuddles. I miss your special smile – the one that makes me feel as if my stomach is doing somersaults – and the way your eyes light up when you're happy. You're the only one who doesn't treat me like I'm stupid even though I am. I'm stupid for..."_

No one ever dared to insult Brittany in front of Santana but she knew a few of them tried to push their luck when she wasn't around. It happened more often than Brittany would let on and she always refused to tell Santana who had upset her. One time, Santana eventually snapped at her in frustration and asked why she would want to protect these people. Brittany had explained to her gently, "I'm not protecting _them_. I'm protecting _you_. If I tell you their names, you're going to punch them and then get in trouble for it. I don't want to see you angry like this. I want to make you happy."

_"I didn't want to tell you this over the phone but you won't talk to me at school. You won't even look at me."_ The tear-filled voice pulled Santana back to the present and she realised that she had missed half of the message. _"I'm so sorry for hurting you. Please believe me. But I know what I want – _who_ I want. I guess I've always known. It's–"_

A muffled yet hysterical voice could be heard in the background. _"Brittany, we're holding an emergency glee club meeting in the choir room _right now_!"_

Santana struggled to keep herself together as the voicemail ended. "Damn it," she muttered, frantically trying to stop her hands shaking long enough to hit speed dial one. "Damn it, Brittany. Who do you want?" She threw her phone at the ground and fell back against her locker, crying softly. "Please say it's me. _Please_."

"It's you."


	2. Part II

Wait With Me

_Disclaimer: I do not own _Glee_ or any of its characters._

_Author's Note: I'm really sorry it took me __three_ months to finish this. It probably wasn't even worth the wait. You can ignore my excuse – that canon was _sort of_ better than fanon _(e.g. Songbird)_. I mean, I was so sure that Brittany and Santana were going to get together in a totally epic way by the end of the season. (I was also sure that Group Display would come up in my Psychology exam so I'm batting 0 for 2 here.) On a positive note, Glee Live was totally amazing! _Sorry for any mistakes._

* * *

_Part II_

* * *

Santana's hands instantly flew up to her face, brushing expertly across her cheeks until she had rid herself of the incriminating evidence. Her arms rested protectively against her chest as she fixed the other girl with a scowl that clearly told her she was _not_ welcome.

The hostile reaction was expected but the tears had evidently surprised the blonde. When Santana's glare intensified, she wiped off the offending expression and bent down to pick up the discarded phone.

"If this is how you answer your phone these days, I can tell you it's not working." This was about more than Santana ignoring her call earlier and the flicker of guilt across the Latina's face told her they were on the same page. She was not about to tempt fate by stepping into Santana's personal space so she gently tossed the phone back to her instead. "Look, despite everything you've done to me with Puck, and Finn, and Sam–"

"Let's not forget about everything _you_'ve done to me," snapped Santana. "Like, telling Coach Sylvester about my summer surgery and then _stealing_ my spot as captain."

Quinn looked genuinely apologetic as her gaze briefly dropped to the floor. "We've both done a lot that we're not proud of but you and I have never been anything less than upfront with each other. I'm here because Brittany asked me to come and find you." At the mention of her name, Santana visibly tensed and narrowed her eyes at the blonde who ignored the warning and pressed on. "Brittany talks to me a lot actually, even after you stopped last year, but it would always be in secret. She would rather go to lengths to hide her friendship with me than make you unhappy because her loyalty has always been to you. You have always been number _one_ in her life."

Her hand clenched tightly around her phone and she shook with anger as she pushed herself off of her locker in one swift move. "Don't you dare lecture me about Brittany," snarled Santana. "You don't know anything about us – about me. I am not the villain. Not this time. I told her how I felt and _she_ shot _me_ down to stay with that cripple. Did she tell you that?"

"Do you know how many times I held her in my arms while she cried because you were with Puck or some other guy from the football team?" Quinn shot back, barely managing to keep herself from yelling. They didn't need an audience for this. "_'I'm not making out with you because I'm in love with you.'_ Sound familiar?" Her cheeks were flushed with the rage she had been holding in for months. "She's put herself out there so many times and you've broken her just as many times."

"I got what I deserved then, didn't I?" Santana hated how bitter the words tasted in her mouth. Her tears were threatening to spill over and she struggled against the emotion that was choking her voice. "I bet you're thrilled. I bet this whole _fucking_ school is proud of her for getting revenge on me."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" hissed Quinn. "If this is how you feel after Brittany turned you down once, how do you think she felt? Did you honestly expect her to jump into your arms and kiss you right here in the hallway? We all know you wouldn't have been ready to deal with the consequences. You'd regret it and find yourself a beard, leaving Brittany to pick up the pieces of her heart _again_."

"I wouldn't have done that," Santana insisted in a quiet but firm voice, almost desperate for Quinn to believe her. "She's my whole world. _I love her_."

"Prove it," Quinn challenged, before letting her shoulders slump in defeat. "I'm tired of being angry at you all the time. We don't even have anything to compete for anymore. Most of all, I'm tired of watching you and Brittany dance around each other. Go get your girl, Lopez. It'll be a clean slate for all of us. At the very least, cheer her up, please, because she needs it after the day she's had."

Resting against her locker again, Santana began to nod in agreement with Quinn's words but then stopped abruptly when they registered. "What do you mean _'after the day she's had'_? Did something happen to Brittany?" Quinn cursed under her breath and gulped as the Latina growled threateningly at her. "Fabray, tell me what happened – _now_."

Taking a step back, Quinn held her hands up defensively and mentally kicked herself for losing control of the conversation. "Okay, but just remember that I am not the person who you should be angry at. I am totally innocent. Don't shoot the messenger."

"_Quinn_!"

Quinn let out an exasperated sigh and snapped, "Can you please stop looking like you're about to kill me?" She ran a hand through her hair to recompose herself. "Berry called an emergency glee club meeting because she was under the impression... Actually, her speech was quite long so let's just skip over that part. Long story short: Artie called you a bitch, Brittany stood up for you and then broke up with him in front of everyone. He... He may have... Well, he..."

"_Spit it out_!"

"He said she was stupid for believing that you wanted her for more than just sex," she mumbled, rushing her words together. "Wait! That's not all!" Santana was already storming down the hallway before Quinn had even finished speaking but at the blonde's frantic call, she stopped and spun around. "Brittany got really upset and ran out of the choir room except..." The Latina's murderous glare cut her hesitation short. "Karofsky was waiting with a slushie."

For a split second, Quinn actually considered running off and getting a head start on finding a hiding spot. As far as she was concerned, the rest of the student body could fend for themselves.

After a few slow, deep breaths, Santana fixed her gaze firmly on Quinn and asked through gritted teeth, "You're going to take care of Karofsky and Artie, right?" The blonde's eyes widened in surprise and she was about to stutter a reply but Santana shook her head impatiently. "I need you to take care of them because I... I need to take care of Brittany. I need to be with her." Her emotions were all colliding together at once and in the midst of the confusion, she realised a very important detail. "Where is she?"

"Uh... What? Oh!" Quinn was completely caught off-guard by the Latina's reaction. "Rachel took her to the girls' bathroom closest to the choir room to help her clean up."

Santana nodded and started to walk away but not before offering a sincere "thank you" to her still-dazed friend.

* * *

"_There you rest, with all the rest, of my accessories, on my nightstand..."_

Waiting for Rachel to finish singing Brittany's favourite song seemed like a polite thing to do – not to mention the fact that Santana needed a moment to prepare herself – but when she realised that 'My Headband' was being sung on a loop, she rolled her eyes and slowly opened the door. Her heart instantly clenched when she saw the blue that was tainting Brittany's blonde hair and the rawness of her skin where the slushie had hit her face.

Rachel noticed her presence first before Brittany opened her eyes to find out why the diva had stopped singing. A million dollar smile lit her face at the sight of Santana who nervously stepped forward and accepted the towel that Rachel had shoved into her hands. She was about to comment on how wonderful this moment was but caught herself when she remembered Mercedes' stern warning to not speak at all in front of the Latina. It didn't stop her from excitedly skipping out of the bathroom though.

Rolling her eyes again at Rachel's antics, she smiled adoringly at Brittany as her giggles echoed around the bathroom. She fiddled nervously with the towel until Brittany reached for her hand, threading their fingers together and pulling her closer.

"Did Quinn find you?" Santana nodded wordlessly in reply, studying the blonde's anxious expression. "You two didn't fight again, did you? I hope she didn't shout at you. She wouldn't promise not to. I told her it wasn't your fault. It's _my_ fault. I'm really sorry, Santana. Artie's right. I _am_ stupid."

"Hey," Santana protested, resting a finger under Brittany's chin and lifting it tenderly. "You are _not_ stupid. He's the one who's stupid – stupid for thinking that he could ever get away with calling you that and upsetting you." Her anger at Artie was bubbling dangerously close to the surface but a simple squeeze of her hand from Brittany was able to calm her considerably.

"Tina poured a cup of water over him. She said it was nicer than throwing a slushie at him." The sound of Santana's bemused laugh sent her heart fluttering and she tugged her closer until she was sat in her lap. "I'm sorry," Brittany whispered, clamping her hand over Santana's mouth to muffle her immediate protests. She wrapped her arms around Santana's waist and held her tightly. "I hurt you. I was trying not to hurt Artie but I hurt you instead which is a million times worse. I'm a horrible person."

"I hurt you too," Santana pointed out, knowing that she had also made mistakes.

Brittany shook her head sadly and started to cry. "I hurt you more. I pushed you when you weren't ready. You worked so hard to let me know how you felt but I didn't even tell you how _I_ feel. I don't deserve you." Santana gently wiped away Brittany's tears and placed a kiss against her cheek to reassure her. "I loved Artie the same way that I love Quinn and Kurt but I don't love him anymore because of what he said about you. I'm _in love_ with you. That's a different love. It's a forever love." She bit her lip shyly. "Was that too sappy?" she asked, blushing as Santana chuckled affectionately.

"Never," she smiled, leaning forward to press her lips against Brittany's and tasting the remnants of the blueberry slushie. "I'm sorry too – for what I said during the duets competition. You mean more to me than anyone else in this world. I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you. I need you, Brittany. You're my life." Shaking her head in amusement, Santana let out a bashful laugh. "Now _that_ was sappy."

Sliding the Latina off her lap, Brittany took the towel from her hands and placed it on the chair. "Dance with me," she grinned.

"There's no music," Santana protested half-heartedly but she let the blonde lead her to the middle of the room. They swayed to their own beat, simply enjoying each other's company, before Santana reluctantly interrupted the comfortable silence. "I'm not ready to come out," she confessed, pulling away just enough to look into her ocean-blue eyes. "I love you but it's going to take some time. I want to walk down the hallway holding hands with you. I want to kiss you in front of everyone and let the whole world know that you're mine but... just not yet." When Brittany didn't respond, Santana felt her heart drop. "Britt?" she prompted, unable to keep the panic out of her voice.

"I told everyone in glee club that I was in love with you," Brittany admitted guiltily. "They all know. I'm so sorry, Santana. Please don't be mad."

A wave of relief washed over her. "Oh my God, you actually scared me there." She rested a hand against the blonde's blue-tinted cheek and kissed her deeply. "I'm not mad. They won't say anything. Quinn and I will make sure of it. Right now, all I care about is whether you're okay with this. I don't want you to wait for me anymore. I want you to wait _with_ me."

The beaming smile on Brittany's face said it all. "Just promise me that it will be different. I don't want to be in the sidelines watching you make out with random guys at parties again."

"I promise. It's just _you_ and _me_. And I promise I will get my shit together. You won't have to wait forever. I won't let that happen."

Brittany rested her head on Santana's shoulder contentedly and closed her eyes. "Will you sing to me? I've missed your voice so much."

* * *

If Quinn, Rachel, Tina and Mercedes were listening on the other side of the door – which they weren't, of course, because eavesdropping on their friends' private moment is something they would _never_ do... but _if_ they were – they would have heard Santana softly singing:

_"And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before."_

* * *

Finished


End file.
